Medal-Winners Honored
Firefighters Enjoy Their Day in Sun

By ARI PAUL

According to Anita Doyle, "no news is good news" for a Firefighter's mother. So when she watched a television news broadcast last October showing Ladder Company 44 - where her 30-year-old son Bryan is a Firefighter - responding to Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle's plane crash at a high-rise on the Upper East Side, she feared for the worst until she heard he made it out unharmed.

STEVE CASSIDY: Teamwork makes heroes.

And on June 6, while she looked on, Firefighter Doyle and his five comrades received the Lieutenant James Curran/New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation Medal at the Fire Department's Medal Day on the steps of City Hall for their bravery that day.

"It's emotional," Ms. Doyle said prior to the ceremony.

Noisy Day At the Hall

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, Chief of Department Salvatore Cassano and Mayor Bloomberg presented 39 individual medals and two group medals. Firefighters and fire officers from throughout the city were present to support medal-winners from their companies. In his opening address, the Mayor quipped that the annual medal ceremony is the noisiest day of the year for those working at City Hall.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow TOP MEDAL: Firefighter James T. Byrne, right, with his 10-month-old son, Sean, rescued Firefighter Kevin McCarthy, left, at a building fire in Queens last January, earning him the department's highest award, the James Gordon Bennett Medal.

"Let me hear a big cheer to today's incredible medal winners," he said to raucous hollers. "That should wake up anyone sleeping on the job here."

He noted that two of the medal winners were probationary Firefighters.

"That underscores the training they got at the Rock," the Mayor said, referring to the department's academy on Randall's Island. Much like medal ceremonies in previous years, most of the medal-winners were from ladder companies. Steve Cassidy, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters' Association, explained that this is because firefighters from those companies tend to be the ones risking their lives in buildings, while engine company Firefighters tended to work on the ground level. He noted after the ceremony that he agreed with Mayor Bloomberg's assertion that all the honored acts of heroism were the result of acts of teamwork.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow HONORED FOR RESCUE: Lieutenant Daniel Crowe won the Henry D. Brookman Medal for rescuing a burn victim last August in The Bronx. He worked alongside Firefighter Walter Powers, who also won honors at the department's medal day but was absent because he is serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq.

Need Supporting Cast

"The running-back scores all the touchdowns," Mr. Cassidy said. "But you need a strong offensive line."

The families of those honored sat in the center of the plaza and were surrounded by standing firefighters. Different companies hung banners on the south side of the plaza bearing the names of those who won medals.

This year's James Gordon Bennett Medal, the department's highest award, went to Firefighter James Byrne of Ladder Company 121 in Rockaway.

On Jan. 26 last year, the company responded to a fire on the sixth floor of an apartment building on Beach Channel Drive in Queens. When Firefighter Kevin McCarthy became trapped by flames in a hallway, Firefighter Byrne went in after him without a hose-line. He pulled Firefighter McCarthy 22 feet down the hallway to an apartment away from the flames. Firefighter McCarthy suffered second-degree burns on his back and neck.

Firefighter Byrne also won the New York State Honorary Fire Chiefs Association Medal.

'Incredible' Feeling

"It's incredible," he said after receiving the Bennett Medal.

One of New York's Bravest was honored for momentarily taking on the job of one of New York's Finest. Firefighter Larry Schneckenburger of Ladder Company 120 in the Brownsville-East New York area in Brooklyn was finishing a training drill when he heard gunshots on March 20 last year. He ran to the scene, and while protecting local schoolchildren he risked his own life by standing between two gunmen who exchanged 21 bullets.

"It was a scene out of the Wild, Wild West," he said.

He won the Pulaski Association Medal for his heroism, but he insisted that he was simply acting on instinct and doing what was right.

"One of 13 other guys would have done the same thing," he said, referring to the other firefighters in the neighborhood.

From Bronx to Iraq

When Ladder Company 58 Firefighter Walter Powers' name was called to receive the Commissioner Edward Thompson Medal, the entire crowd stood up to applaud. He is currently serving a second tour of duty in Iraq as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines. His family, including one of his sons who was dressed in full Marine regalia, accepted the award for him. Firefighter Powers also served in the first war in Iraq while on active duty.

On Aug. 21 last year, Firefighter Powers rushed up to the 12th floor of a burning building on Southern Blvd. in The Bronx where he found an unconscious victim, whom he dragged 50 feet back down the stairs. The victim was brought to St. Barnabas Hospital.

"Obviously, we're very proud of Walter; he's very established," said Captain Joseph Principio of Ladder 58 in the Tremont section of the Bronx, nicknamed the "Vyse Guys."

The company had two other Firefighters honored at the ceremony and cheered heartily when their names were called.

For retired Firefighter Frederick Schwartzrock Sr., it was especially pleasing to see his son, Frederick, of Ladder Company 41 receive the Steuben Association Medal for making several trips into a burning building to rescue people.

"I was never fortunate enough to get a medal," he said. "It was thrilling to watch him."

Saved Mentally Disabled

Ladder Company 105 of Prospect Heights in Brooklyn won the Thomas Elsasser Memorial Medal, one of two group medals, for rescuing several residents of a burning home for mentally disabled adults at night one week before Christmas last year. Firefighter Michael Lorene rescued an unconscious 69-year-old resident that night.

Captain Peter Melly was detailed to Engine Company 79 in the Bronx on Feb. 26 last year and responded to a fire on the 24th floor of a building on Mosholu Parkway South. While working on the fire floor with Firefighters from Ladder Company 37, his helmet and hood were knocked off by hose-water, but he remained there until all the Firefighters on the floor made it out safely. The exposure caused him to suffer second-degree burns on his ears and neck. For this act, he received the Uniformed Fire Officers' Association Medal.

The other Firefighters who received individual medals were Joseph Donatelli, Richard Schmidt, Keith Lagan, Glen Merkitch, George Porter, Thomas McGlade, Scott Breslin, Charles Wiemann, Kevin Jensen, Craig McDonald, James Lunny, Terence Osborn, Steven Devaney, William Smith, Brian Pascascio, Brian O'Sullivan, John Drew, Michael Cook, Ronald Deaso, Kevin Gorman and John Maguire.

Lieutenants Honored

The Lieutenants who received medals were Brian Davan, Daniel Crowe, Jeffrey Mosen, George Brennan, David Bengyak, Victor Spadaro, Stephen McNally, Daniel Bowman, Gary Jacobson and Richard Galeazzi.

Fire Marshal Daniel Caruso won the Deputy Commissioner Christine R. Godek Medal.

Mr. Cassidy noted that many of the Firefighters honored at this year's ceremony acted without the safety of a hose-line, meaning that they went above and beyond the call of duty by risking their own safety for the sake of others, including their fellow Firefighters and fire officers.

"That's just New York firefighter heroism," Mr. Cassidy said. "That's the theme."